2005 Roussanne

Production Notes

The 2005 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne is Tablas Creek’s fourth national release of
its 100% Roussanne. The wine is exuberantly and elegantly in character of the Roussanne grape, with honey, honeysuckle, and pear aromatics, a rich, viscous mouthfeel with just a hint of oak, and a long, lingering finish.

We use most of our Roussanne in our Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc each year. However, we often have some Roussanne lots in the cellar that are so powerfully characteristic of the varietal that we feel they would be too dominant in a blend. In these cases, we reserve a small quantity of this powerful Roussanne for a single-varietal bottling.

The 2005 vintage was one of nature’s lucky breaks, with excellent quality and higher-than-normal yields. The wet winter of ’04–’05 gave the grapevines ample groundwater, and a warm period in March got the vines off to an early May flowering. The summer was uniformly sunny but relatively cool, and harvest began (relatively late for us) in the 3rd week of September. The grapes spent nearly a month longer than normal on the vine, and the resulting wines were intensely mineral, with good structure and powerful aromatics. The Roussanne (unusually, our last varietal harvested) came in between September 26th and November 7th.

The Roussanne grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts half in
stainless steel and half in small French oak barrels. The wine was left on its lees for 6
months, and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation. After fermentation the wines were
blended, and bottled in May 2006. The wines underwent only a light cold stabilization before
bottling.

Tasting Notes

The 2005 Roussanne is a vibrant expression of the Roussanne grape. Aromas of pear, honeysuckle and hazelnut and spice are followed by a wine of rich texture, honey, pear and lemon zest flavors, moderate acidity and a long minerally finish.

By Category

Paso Robles Harvest Wine Weekend

Join us in the tasting room all weekend for a first look at our flagship wines: 2013 Esprit de Tablas and 2013 Esprit de Tablas Blanc.Friday night: Enjoy a four-course, four-wine dinner at McPhee's Grill in Templeton. Seats at the dinner are $105/per person (inclusive of tax and gratuity) and reservations are essential. Details »Saturday: join us in the cellar at Tablas Creek for a series of interactive demonstrations. Demonstrations will be ongoing from 10am - 3pm and are free to all guests. Details »

Tasting the Wines in the Fall 2015 VINsider Club Shipments

July 31, 2015Each spring and fall, we send out a selection of six wines to the members of our VINsider Wine Club. In many cases, these are wines that only go out to our club. In others, the club gets a first look at wines that may see a later national release. And with each shipment, we reintroduce ourselves to these wines (which, in some cases, we may not have tasted since before bottling) with a tasting that we use to write the notes that will be included in the club shipments. Read More »